Page 17 of Devour

He looks up from his phone. “It is.”

I slide into the chair beside my brother, pulling my knees to my chest as I sip my coffee. I give my mother a few minutes to notice and then tell me not to sit this way. Apparently, I’m a little bit more like her than I’d like to admit, because I do this shit on purpose too.

“Do you know who you want?” Kyns asks casually, but she’s watching him intently.

Justin sets his phone down. He looks at her, then at me. I just smirk and shrug. He focuses back on my best friend. “Are you asking for a specific reason?”

“I’m asking because I don’t know all of the Talons in the hunt.” She picks at her sandwich. “And if a Dove doesn’t get caught, she has to go to auction.”

He leans back and taps his fingers on the table. “You want to know if I’ll catch you.”

“It was just a thought.” She holds his stare, playing with her hair. “At least we know each other, and you don’t have to worry about me falling in love with you or some dumb shit like that.”

I watch the bizarre exchange from behind my coffee. Only in our world is it normal to discuss hunting and fucking each other like it’s no big deal.

And then you have Kynlee. She pretty much just says and does whatever is on her mind. I’ve always appreciated that about her.

Justin is quiet for a second. He looks at my mother. She’s staring at her phone, but the woman is always listening, even when she looks like she isn’t.

“If I catch you,” he says, lowering his voice, “you’re mine for the year. You understand that, right? I’m free to fuck the Dove I catch.”

I snort into my coffee. My mother fucking looks up at that and scowls at me. Her son just talked about fucking at the table, but heaven forbid I make an unattractive, unladylike sound. Then she motions her manicured finger for me to lower my feet to the floor. I ignore her and continue watching this awkward display in front of me. Fuck her.

“I know what it means, Justin. I’ve fucked before.”

“Not like this, you haven’t.” Justin doesn’t blink. “This isn’t sneaking out of some frat house at three in the morning. You live with me. You sleep in my bed. You do what I fucking say, and you don’t touch another man for a year unless I say so. Everything you do is with my permission.”

I hate how my pussy throbs thinking about what that means when Axl has that control over me.

“Isn’t that true regardless of who catches me?” Kynlee takes another bite of her sandwich like they’re just discussing something trivial like their weekend plans—like no part of this is fucked up. “I’m not asking you to marry me, Justin. I just figured that you’re hot, I’m hot, and the sex would probably be hot. And we’d both get through the year and then go on with our lives.”

My mother looks up from her phone. She doesn’t say anything, but her eyes move between Kynlee and Justin, and I know she’s interested in this conversation. Not about the sex part. Sex is discussed so openly in our world. We all have to fuck in front of each other, so dignity is something we’ve had to accept we’d never have. I’m surprised the Ravens didn’t make some monthly public fucking ritual.

I laugh to myself at the idea and about how bothered my mother is right now. My mother cares deeply about who Justin marries, and she would never pick Kynlee for her precious boy. Kynlee’s family isn’t connected enough. If she had connections to the Council, my mother would serve her on a platter to Justin.

“What about you?” My mother’s eyes land on me when Justin doesn’t respond right away to Kynlee’s proposition. “Have you given any thought to who might claim you?”

“I’ve given it some thought.” And it’s none of her goddamn business. I have learned not to tell my mother more than she needs to know.

“And?”

“And whatever Talon carries me from the woods and fucks me in front of you is the one I’m going to serve, Mother.”

Her lips thin. If I were closer, she might slap me for that. “It’s not too late for you to go to auction. That would be in the best interest of us all. Both of you girls should consider it.” She glances at Justin, annoyance written on her face. She gives him a look that I don’t understand, almost like a warning. Then she focuses on her phone with a huff.

“I know you’d prefer I wear a tight dress and bend over the auction block, Mom. You’ve made that very clear.”

The table goes quiet. Justin and Kynlee drop their conversation and each push food around their plates. My mother’s focus snaps to me, and she stares at me for a long moment. Then she picks up her coffee and takes a sip like she’s plotting something.

“If you insist on doing the ritual, then I have a fitting scheduled for your ceremony dress on Wednesday,” she says, changing the subject without acknowledging what just happened. “Margot has it on the calendar. Don’t be late.”

“I wouldn’t dream of it.” The Ravens love putting on a show. The Doves in the hunt are all expected to wear flowing white dresses, so it can be even more dramatic when the Talons chase us down and carry us out to fuck us.

She sets her mug down and rises from her chair. “I have a meeting I must attend this afternoon, and I’m not sure when I’ll be back. Surely you all can clean yourselves up and actually look presentable before dinner.” She smooths her dress and picks up her phone. She pauses behind my chair on the way out. I can feel her standing there.

“And get your hair done before the fitting. I can see your roots, and I don’t want you to embarrass me.” She pats her perfectly styled hair, and her heels click on the floor as she finally walks away.

As soon as she’s gone, the tension leaves the room like someone opened a fucking window and gave me a burst of fresh air. I don’t want to hate my mother, but she makes it really difficult.